<p>If you select your pool carefully enough it will work within those limits, because, for schools of similar size and makeup, the % ranking will be very similar to the ranking based on absolute # faculty & course offerings, which I contend is actually the more relevant data.</p>
<p>I would expect this approach to break down more when you start applying it to compare schools of different sizes. You will start rating the larger, more diverse schools lower using your methodology, even though they actually have more faculty in the given department and offer more courses to undergraduates. </p>
<p>For example, you may conclude, using your methodology, that Whitman is superior to Stanford in Biology. Or if not Stanford, then some other school with biology capabilties dwarfing Whitman’s.</p>
<p>Moreover, few people trying to apply this will be aware of all the adjustments to the denominators (eg strip out conservatory, other specialized colleges) that are necessary to make these results even do what you want them to do.
And to to it right, when you strip out the irrelevant specialized colleges you need to adjust the SAT scores for that college as well.</p>